Naruto: Tales From Iwagakure
by macaronipterodactyl
Summary: While the Konoha is being devastated by the machinations of Akatsuki, in the land of earth a new team of genin begin their adventures. Introducing brand new ninja and expanding on the amazing world of Naruto, "Tales from Iwagakure" is sure to please.
1. Chapter 1

A few quick things before I get started with my story: 1. This is my first fanfic here, so please be courteous. 2. I don't speak Japanese, so if you see anything in brackets [ ] just pretend it's a translation of the Japanese name. 3. This is an Elsewhere fic; don't count on Naruto and the gang making more than a couple cameo appearances. 4. I use the Japanese naming format with full names, so if you see a full name it is last name first. 5. I like the use of Japanese honorifics, and I hope I'm using them correctly. If you know better than me, feel free to correct me. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoy :-)

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Naruto or any related media.

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NARUTO: TALES FROM IWAGAKURE

Bam! Bam! Bam! There was a loud pounding on the door to Yukio's room. "Hey! Yuki-kun! We're gonna be late, man! I want to find out if we get to be on the same team or not!"

Yukio rolled over away from the door. "How late can we be Ren-chan? The sun's not even up!"

"You know they have the graduation ceremony at dawn. We've got three minutes to get all the way across Iwagakure. Move your lazy butt!" Ren then kicked in the door; he was dressed in the standard issue flak jacket and his favorite pair of blue pants. He had gotten his hair cut recently, the silver locks were pulled back in a short ponytail and his bangs had finally been removed from blocking his equally grey eyes. Yukio looked him once over with bleary eyes and said grumpily "Did you shrink again? I could have sworn you were taller yesterday."

"Come on you lazy bum. We have to get going." Ren walked over to Yukio's dresser and picked up his fleece bomber jacket and shoes, then moved over to Yukio's bed and proceeded to lift him up with one arm. Ren slung him over his shoulder and proceeded to make several hand signs [Summoning: Palace of the Sultan]. A door appeared in the air in front of him. Ren opened the door and stepped through. On the other side was a huge, mostly empty room, with numerous doors on every wall. Ren unceremoniously dropped Yukio on the floor.

"What would I do without my best friend, the alarm clock ninja?" Yukio grinned as he put on his sandals. He checked the pockets to make sure his scrolls were in place, then stood up and dusted himself off. He was much taller than his friend, with short, light brown hair and hazel eyes. He had managed to grab a shirt and pants as he was being dragged out of his room, and changed quickly into the dark green shirt and black pants then put on the bomber with his house insignia (a diagonal cross made from a black and a white feather) on the back.

"Well clock-kun, how late are we?" Yukio asked his good friend as they walked over to one of the doors.

"We're not late at all, sleepy head." Ren replied with a grin. "We've got about an hour before the graduation ceremony starts."

"Then why did you wake me up and drag me into the castle?" Yukio questioned indignantly.

"So I could do this." Was Ren's response. He opened the door quickly, then shoved Yukio through and closed the door behind him just as fast. Yukio landed right in the middle of a circle of girls who were chatting away while they waited for the ceremony to start. They screamed as he fell into the middle of them.

"Yukio-kun you pervert! What were you trying to do?" One of them screamed at him.

"Sorry Kami-san. It was Ren who pushed me through the door, I just happened to land in the middle here." Yukio pleaded.

"I did no such thing! Yuki-kun was hoping to get a peek down your shirt and fell through the door." Ren said with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Yukio-kun, I swear that I'm going to…" Kami started.

"You'll do what?" Said a strong female voice from behind them, it was Yukio's mother, Ozuru Chiatsu.

"N-Nothing, ojou-sama." Kami replied nervously.

"My little Yuki-tan was just curious about what girls look like! He didn't mean anything by it." Chiatsu said in a cutesy voice as she ran over and crushed Yukio in a hug. "He's growing up soooooo fast! Don't worry, Momma will teach you aaaall about lady parts, Yuki-tan."

"What the hell?" Yukio said as he struggled free of his mother's iron grip. Everyone around him was laughing. "What was that for? I don't need you to teach me anything like that! Yuck!"

"Ooh, Yuki-tan, don't say such mean things to your mother. I think I might cry…" Yukio's mom flopped to the ground with a pout on her face. Everyone began to laugh even harder. One of the girls was laughing so hard she fell over. It was all Yukio could do to keep a straight face, eventually he couldn't hold it in any more and he began to laugh as well. Chiatsu smiled, and then joined in, hiding her laughter behind her hand.

The laughter died quickly when the stern face of Montaro Mikami, Ren's father, appeared. "We are ready to start the graduation ceremony." He said in a deep voice. "I would appreciate it if you all did not waste any more time." He turned and walked away before anyone could reply.

Yukio helped his mother get up from the ground and walked with her to her seat. Ren called him over behind the curtain, where they were supposed to stand before receiving their headbands. There were 33 graduating students this year, including Ren and Yukio, the presenter, Akahana Choko read them off as each student came up to get their head plate. When she called Ren's name, Yukio slapped him on the back as congratulation. Three names later and Yukio was called. He proceeded slowly up to the podium, and took his headband with proper respect. His mother smiled when they announced that he had placed in the top ten in the class. After all the Shinobi had been called up the presenter spoke.

"Congratulations to all of you who passed the exams, you are now shinobi of Iwagakure. Do not dishonor this village and I won't have any reason to bring you back to my academy." She said with a laugh. "I am proud to have taught the largest graduating class that Iwagakure has had in over thirty years. Congratulations to all of you. Your team assignments will be announced after lunch, which the Montaro family has so graciously provided."

Lunch passed without much fanfare, it was a picnic outside of the large cave that made up the ninja school. The new genin all sat together talking and laughing, discussing what they knew about the jonin that had been given teams to lead this year. The boys were excited because Suzu Maeko, the tattoo ninja, had been declared as one of the jonin senseis. They all talked about what it would be like to work with someone like her, she was widely believed to be one of the top ninja in Iwagakure, and was definitely the best kunoichi around.

"What's so great about stupid Maeko?" Kami asked her friend, Nakamura Ai.

"I'd love to get to work with her." Ai squealed. "She's so pretty, and she's totally the best ninja in Iwa, except for the Tsuchikage of course."

"Yeah, but no team she leads is going to be effective if she's got boys on it. They'll just spend the whole time drooling over her body." Kami replied.

"Well boys do that to me already. Maybe if you weren't so flat you'd get some attention too." Ai teased.

"You know who I'd love to work with?" Kami asked her friend.

"Ito Renji-kun…" Ai replied dreamily. "He's so beautiful, and he's at the top of the class too, he's probably the only boy you'd ever want to work with."

"I think she'd rather just play with him," Said a voice from behind the two girls. It was Ai's twin brother, Nagato. He had snuck up behind the two girls and was sitting in the tree above them. "You know…" He said as he made a rude gesture.

"Nagato just shut up. You're jealous because you look so much like a girl it makes you ugly." His sister snapped.

"The only girl I look like is you, so if I'm ugly I guess that means you must be too." He sneered. Ai's face turned bright red and she muttered something under her breath. Kami started to giggle.

One of the senseis from the school began walking around handing out envelopes. As he did so he began to speak. "In each of these envelopes is a note with a set of coordinates. The coordinates are going to be where you all will meet your new teammates, so each team has different coordinates. You are not to speak to any other genin about the contents of your envelope. You will each have five minutes to arrive at your destination; you may leave as soon as you get your envelope."

As soon as the new genin received their envelopes they started to leave, by the looks on their faces each place was a good distance away, especially if they only had five minutes to arrive. Ren vanished into a doorway as soon as he got his envelope and Kami was off and running before she had even opened it. Yukio took his envelope and opened it up; the coordinates were to a densely forested area well outside of town. He wasn't worried about the time limit, He might not be able to move through the castle like Ren did, but he had his own methods of transportation. He pulled a cord on his vest and a pair of glider like wings sprung out from the back.

"Bird, Dragon, Tiger, Hare…" He said as he made the hand signs. "[Ozuru Clan Secret Technique: Phoenix wings]!" He leapt into the air and flames began to shoot out from the bottoms of his feet. He launched himself high into the air before cutting off the flames, and used the glider wings to guide himself to the coordinates. As he approached the clearing that his note had indicated, he looked down to see if anyone else had arrived, it appeared that he was the first one there.

Just as he touched down from his flight, he felt a kunai at his throat. "You don't pay much attention to your surroundings, do you?" a voice whispered in his ear.

"No, I guess not." Yukio replied. He made three quick hand signs, and a huge gust of wind spiraled out from his body, sending his attacker flying. "Then again, you should know better than to get so close to somebody with my family's kekkei genkai. Am I right Ren-kun?"

"Ha ha. Yeah, I never could get you with that stunt. It's always fun to try though." Ren said as he picked himself up. "I'm kinda surprised to see you here Yuki-kun. I guess that means we really do get to be teammates."

"Yeah, I guess so. I wonder who our Jonin is…" Yukio responded.

"That'd be ME!" Said a loud female voice from across the clearing. She strode out into the open with an air of extreme confidence. She wore little more than a glorified bikini top and short shorts. She had long black hair, dark skin and an incredibly full chest. However, her most striking feature was that she was covered from the neck down in tattoos.

"The name's Suzu Maeko. You all can call me sensei, or I'll beat you to a pulp." She said as she strode over.

"We know," said Ren in a dazed voice.

Yukio slapped him on the back of the head. "You're drooling, man. Get it together."

"Hey, aren't there supposed to be three of you?" Maeko asked. She looked around the clearing, Yukio and Ren just shrugged, for all they cared this was the perfect team already.

"Sorry! Sorry I'm late!" called another female voice. Kami came running out of the forest behind Maeko. When she reached the other three ninja she bent over to catch her breath. "I'm so sorry sensei! I'm not late am I?" She asked.

"Nope, you're just in time!" Maeko replied with a smile. "Meet your new team! Iwagakure Team 5!"

"This can't be my team!" Kami shouted. "I can't work with these two! They're a couple of stuck up perverts! Besides, aren't the teams divided up evenly by our test scores? All three of us placed in the top 15!"

"I placed second." Ren added helpfully.

"Well, that might be the case most of the time, but everybody's scores were so close this year, and we had such a large graduating class that we've decided to divide up teams based on their techniques and fighting styles. Right now our team is supposed to be a long range reconnaissance and assault team. You all were selected for your very different fighting styles and the fact that all of you showed incredible endurance throughout your training." Maeko explained. "This way we've got a wide variety of options: Yukio is a master of long range combat, you're a taijutsu expert and Ren here is supposed to be really good at medical and defensive techniques."

"What do you mean 'supposed to be'?" Ren pouted.

"That's not important right now!" Maeko exclaimed. "We've got our first test as a team right now!"

"What are we gonna do?" Asked Yukio.

"We're gonna play a game. OF CAPTURE THE FLAG!" Maeko proclaimed. "And I'm our flag!"

"HUH?" Was the three genin's response.

"Well, it's supposed to work like this. Each team of genin will be working together to protect their jonin from the other teams. The goal is to capture the other team's jonin and try to carry them outside of the forested area. The jonin on each team will be able to move around and try to dodge other teams, but they won't be able to attack at all. The last team standing will be given a special award, and the first three teams eliminated will be sent back to the academy."

"Wow, the stakes are pretty high then." Commented Ren. "So when do we start?"

"Now." Replied Maeko. A bright pink dome formed over top of the forest area, it was about four miles in diameter. "That would be the border we have to cross to eliminate a team. And since it's up. That means it's time to start!"


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to those of you who read the first chapter! If you liked it, let me know, tell your friends, or do both! I would love to hear what you think of my work. All comments are welcome. I'll try to put out new chapters as frequently as possible, plan on about one a week from now on. I was also thinking of including character profiles at the end of each chapter, starting with the next one; if you like this idea let me know. Now without further ado:

NARUTO: TALES FROM IWAGAKURE EPISODE 2

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NARUTO: TALES FROM IWAGAKURE

EP. 2: The Makings of a Team!

"Now." Replied Maeko. A bright pink dome formed over top of the forest area, it was about four miles in diameter. "That would be the border we have to cross to eliminate a team. And since it's up. That means it's time to start!"

"All right! Let's go kick some ass!" Kami said fiercely

"Wait, wait a second." Ren replied. "Shouldn't we come up with a plan first?"

"Plan? We don't need a plan! Just beat up anybody we come across and drag their jonin across the border. It's that simple."

"No, Ren-kun is right. We should at least have some sort of formation," Yukio commented. "I think Ren-kun and Maeko-sensei should stick together while you and I scout ahead and take on any teams we encounter."

"Why the hell would we want to do that?" Kami snapped.

"Because Ren-chan here specializes in defensive jutsu, so he'd make the perfect guard." Was Maeko's reply. "Meanwhile, Yukio-kun can provide cover and fire support while you take care of the jonin flags."

"You mean I get to kick jonin butt?" Kami's eyes began to tear up. "I can't wait! Let's do it!"

"All right, Iwagakure Team 5! Alpha Formation!" Maeko shouted.

"Umm… Maeko-sensei, what's alpha formation?" Ren asked.

"You know, the plan we just came up with…" Maeko replied.

"Oh, OK. Let's go!" Ren piped.

"Oh, wait. Before I forget, take these." Maeko handed each of her genin a radio transceiver and a bingo book.

"What's the bingo book for?" Yukio asked.

"It's got information on each of the teams of graduating ninja and their jonin. You'll want to look at these when you can." Maeko responded. "Sorry we didn't have time to look them over before, but those are the rules."

The four shinobi of Iwa leapt into action, jumping up into the trees they headed towards the center of the forest. They bounded through the trees, heading steadily westward until they came to a clearing. Standing in the middle of this clearing, completely unguarded was one of the jonin senseis.

"Hey, isn't that one of the jonin?" Yukio asked Kami, pointing to the man standing in the clearing. He was dressed head to toe in black, with his head plate worn like a bandanna, and a blood red scarf covering his mouth.

"Yeah, that's Sato Akihiko-sama. He's the leader of team 1, with Nakamura Nagato, Daitokuji Bachiko and Ito Renji. Let's go get him!" Kami whispered as she looked him up in the bingo book. She started to leap forward but Yukio grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back.

"Isn't this just a little too easy?" he admonished.

"You're right. It's got to be a trap. What should we do about it?" Kami asked her teammate.

"Hmmm, I'm betting that's either a transformed clone or some other fake, his team is probably waiting for us to move into the clearing so they can take us out. So do you know how to disable a trap like this?" Yukio asked.

"You trigger it from long range?" Kami suggested.

"Exactly." Yukio replied. He reached into his pack and pulled out a pair of kunai tied together with a rope. "As soon as I throw this you break off to the left and wait. When the enemy comes to get me, take them by surprise."

Yukio stretched the rope out, and twirled the kunai over his head like a bola before throwing it. The two kunai spun around each other and wrapped Akihiko up before burying themselves into the dirt. Kami jumped off to the left and hid herself in the upper branches of a nearby tree. Tense moments followed, with nothing but silence, the dummy Akihiko didn't move and no genin appeared to strike at Yukio.

_Yuki-kun!_ The radio in his ear crackled. _ We've got serious trouble here! I've got three genin attacking at once!_

_Ren-kun, is it Team 1?_ Yuki responded.

_No! They're taijutsu specialists, it's Team 2. Nakamura Ai, Yazawa Taizo, and that feral guy Taro. I'll try and hold them here until you get back to support, but I can't take out three barrier busters like these on my own._ Ren replied breathlessly

_We're on our way._ Kami said. She turned to Yukio and asked, "What should we do here? Do we just leave Akihiko-sama like that and come back later?"

"We have to help Ren-kun, there's no choice. Normally taijustu users aren't a problem, but Taro is really good at breaking all types of barriers. We need to get back there now." Yukio sounded worried.

The two genin began to rush back to Ren and Maeko. As they jumped through the trees they heard the sound of a kunai flying through the air behind them. Yukio dove to the side and turned around. There, standing on the ground below him, was Ito Renji, dressed in his long brown duster and with his ninja headband tied around his throat.

"Where are you two going?" He asked with a laugh. "I can't have the two of you go off and save Ren-kun. See, my two teammates are heading over there now to take out team two after Ren-kun weakens them enough. That way we can take out two Jonin with one hit!"

Yukio turned to Kami. "Kami-chan." He said "Go back to help Ren-kun. Set some traps to slow down Renji's teammates, and make sure that you take out Team 2. I'll hold Renji and catch up when I'm through here." Kami nodded once and sprinted off into the forest.

"That's pretty bold of you, taking me one on one." Renji said with a smirk. "You know I'm going to crush you. So why even try?"

Yukio didn't even bother to respond he threw three shuriken at Renji, who dodged the first two easily. The third planted itself at his feet. "Looks like your aim was off on that last one, Yukio-kun." Renji said.

"Not even." Yukio replied he made a cross with his two hands. "[Exploding Shuriken Technique]!" The shuriken at Renji's feet erupted in a blast of fire.

Yukio heard the sound of metal scraping out of a sheath behind him, he did a back flip off the tree branch he was standing on, and saw Renji was about to stab him with his tanto. Yukio threw two more shuriken and detonated them both. The blast sent Renji slamming into the ground, and rocketed Yukio upwards and backwards. Yukio used his [Ozuru Clan Secret Technique: Phoenix Wings] to propel himself even further, flipping his body over so that he could use his wings to glide. He rose up above the tree line, but a rope wrapped around his foot and yanked him down so that he crashed into the trees, breaking his wings.

"I don't lose that easily." Renji growled as he made the hand signs for tiger, dog, boar and dragon. Grabbed the metal of his headband with finger and thumb on both hands, and said "[Sound Style: Roar of the Gods]!" A wave of sonic energy blasted out of the metal plate, tearing apart the trees in front of it.

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Kami arrived at the position Ren had given her over the radio. Below her, she was Ren as he fought with three other genin. Numerous broken walls of stone and felled trees littered the area, Ren kept making walls of earth and stone appear, punctuating them with opening fissures in the earth, and shooting stalagmites.

Ren was hard pressed to defend Maeko. Every wall or barrier he made was quickly destroyed by the very feral looking Taro, who's every punch or kick was accompanied by a blast of raw chakra. He also had to protect against Ai's dance like katas which used nature chakra in explosive bursts to disrupt her opponents. Meanwhile, their other teammate, Yazawa Taizo, hung back, checking the condition of his long, fur lined vest, and belittling his teammates for not having finished already.

It was clear that Ren was almost done for, his counters came slower and slower, and his mighty stone constructs became steadily smaller and weaker. Kami knew she had to do something quick, something that would intimidate the enemy and draw attention away from Ren and Maeko. She jumped down from her perch, landing silently just behind the loudmouth Taizo.

She ran up behind him and shouted in his ear. "[Falling Tower Style: Birth of 1000 Deaths]!" and promptly kicked him in the nut sack so hard that he was lifted off the ground. Taizo landed on his face, crying, coughing and in so much pain that he finally passed out. The other two members of Team 2 stopped what they were doing and turned to look.

"HIIIII! KAMI-CHAAAAN!" Ai shouted happily from across the battlefield. "HOW ARE YOU?"

"I'M REALLY GOOD, AI-CHAN! I'M LOOKING FOR A FIGHT, WANNA SPAR?" Kami responded even louder.

"NO, I'VE GOT TO CAPTURE YOUR JONIN, RIGHT NOW. MAYBE LATER." Ai shouted back.

"OK, HOW ABOUT YOU TARO-KUN?" Kami asked. Taro put his hands in front of his genitals and shook his head vigorously.

"How about you try me you b…" Taizo said as he started to stand up, before Kami elbowed him in the face.

Ai and Taro turned around to face Ren and Maeko, but during the commotion they had vanished. Ai turned back around and shouted to Kami "LOOKS LIKE WE GET TO SPAR AFTER ALL KAMI-CHAN!"

"TWO AGAINST ONE? SOUNDS PERFECT!" Kami shouted back.

"Three against one." Taizo said as he rose up once more. The three genin of Team 2 moved to surround Kami.

"Sounds even better." Kami smiled grimly. She set herself into her preferred fighting stance, and chuckled evilly.

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Ren and Maeko took a short pause from leaping rapidly through the trees when they heard two voices arguing loudly. Nakamura Nagato and Daitokuji Bachiko, the other members of Team 1 were standing beneath a pine tree with their jonin sensei, apparently in the midst of a heated argument. Their usually silent Jonin was futilely trying to quiet them, but his own voice was so soft that it went completely unheard.

Ren turned to Maeko and smiled wickedly. He was bruised and beaten badly, his clothes were torn, and his left eye was swollen shut. But the Cheshire grin he put on told Maeko that he knew he had more than enough skill to take these two down.

"What's your plan?" She whispered to him.

"Don't worry. I might be beaten up pretty bad, but I'm about to sub in our ringer." He said.

"We've got a ringer? I must have missed something in my bingo book." Maeko mused.

"My clan has a special relationship with five powerful Oni. I think it's time you met my body brother, IshiOni." Ren slammed his two fists together and a silver seal spread out from his forehead. His skin became layered in stone, and he grew to almost thirteen feet tall, his silver hair grew out so that it went all the way down to his lower back, and his forearms swelled up even bigger than the rest of his body, so that his fist was big enough to hold Maeko in it. Standing before Maeko was no longer Ren, but the powerful stone guardian, IshiOni. Maeko climbed onto IshiOni's back, concealing herself in his hair. With a mighty roar, IshiOni announced his presence and leapt into battle.

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That's the end of Episode 2!

Next time: Our three new genin are separated, fighting against incredible odds, can they claim victory and reunite to win in this test? Or will they fall in battle, separated and alone. Find out in our next episode: The Three Battle War!

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	3. Chapter 3

OK, I lied last time. I've been on a roll here so I figured, _why not put up the third chapter now?_ And that's just what I did. I hope you enjoy Episode 3: The Three Battle War.

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NARUTO: TALES FROM IWAGAKURE

EP. 3: The Three Battle War!

IshiOni charged forth from the trees so fast that he was more like a demonic bullet train than an oni. Appearing as little more than a huge grey blur he knocked aside Nagato and Bachiko, grabbed Akihiko and was off running, leaving a trail of destroyed trees in his wake.

"What the HELL was THAT?" Nagato exclaimed, as he jumped up from his prone position.

"Nagato, please don't swear. It makes me uncomfortable…" Bachiko replied softly. She was still lying on the ground; her beautiful flower print kimono was covered in mud and pieces of broken trees.

"There you go completely missing the point again, oujou-baka. Some _thing_ just ran off with our sensei!" Nagato scolded.

"Ah! Where did Akihiko-sensei go?" Bachiko asked, looking around.

"NOW she catches on, greeeaaat…" Nagato complained. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a kunai. He cut the palm of his hand and then pressed it to the ground, activating a summoning.

A huge falcon appeared in front of Nagato. It was big enough for two or more people to ride on; it had gold and red colored feathers and a human looking face. There were two holes cut in its wings, these holes were ringed with strange, silver looking metal.

"Who has called me?" The bird spoke in a booming voice.

"Garuda-sempai! That was me! I need your help!" Nagato shouted up at the bird. "My sensei has been kidnapped. If his abductor crosses outside the pink barrier jutsu with him, I'm going to fail the mission!"

"We can't have that! Your father would be incredibly upset with me if I allowed you to fail a mission as important as this. Hurry, get on my back. But we will need someone who can track your sensei." Garuda said.

Nagato climbed up on the back of Garuda, he turned to Bachiko, who was still lying on the ground and said to her, "Hey! You coming or what?"

"Will Nagato-san help me get up from the ground?" She asked politely.

"No! Get your own damn self up! If you don't want to help me find sensei, then you can explain to him why we lost! Oujou-baka!" Nagato shouted.

"Nagato-temee! Stupid boys should help a lady up!" Bachiko muttered to herself as she got up from the ground. She climbed gracefully onto the back of Garuda and fit herself on his back behind Nagato.

Garuda looked behind him at Bachiko. "Can you tell me where your sensei is, Oujou-sama?" He asked politely.

"I think Akihiko-sensei went that way…" Bachiko said, pointing to the wide path of destruction left by IshiOni.

"Ah! Truly, Ojou-sama is the greatest tracker amongst the shinobi of Iwagakure." Garuda replied with complete sincerity. "Hold tightly to Nagato, Oujou-sama, we are about to take wing!"

Garuda flapped his mighty wings once and they were high up in the air, looking down it was easy to see the path that IshiOni had taken, a straight shot across the forest, towards the far border.

"Why would it take sensei to the far border?" Bachiko asked no one in particular.

"Nagato-bozu, Oujou-sama, there are many battles taking place below. Is Iwagakure under attack?" Garuda asked.

"No, Garuda-dono. This is a test for the new genin. We are playing capture the sensei, and if Akihiko-sensei is taken across that border then we may never become ninja." Bachiko said politely.

"The two of you finally graduated from the ninja academy! Your parents must be proud. Well, we cannot have you take one step forward and two steps back. I believe I have spotted your kidnapper. Oh my, that is one of the Montaro Onis." Garuda dipped left and soared over top of the growing path of destruction which had taken a sudden turn, heading towards another group of genin who were fighting by a river.

"Montaro Oni… does that mean that that thing that attacked us was Ren-kun?" Nagato asked with a bewildered look on his face.

"Yes, that is one of those onis. I believe it is IshiOni, the stone guardian. This could be troublesome." Garuda said to the two on his back. "Oujou-sama, hold on tight, I am about to show you the power of Garuda!"

Bachiko wrapped her arms around Nagato's waist and closed her eyes tightly, fearing to look. Nagato turned to her and said simply "Watch."

Garuda flapped his mighty wings once more and a huge shockwave of air sped downward towards the ground. It flattened a huge area of the forest, but as its leading edge was about to strike IshiOni, he spun around, swinging his left arm out and deflecting the blast. He stared up at Garuda and opened his mouth. A thick grey liquid shot out, and it sped towards Garuda.

"Incoming, Garuda-sempai! Barrel roll, then fire again!" Nagato shouted. Garuda rolled to the right, the glop of liquid just missing the tip of his wing, he flapped his wings once more, creating and this time, two bolts of lightning shot forth from the metal rings in Garuda's wings, the crackling energy filled the air in front of Garuda and this time, IshiOni was stopped in his tracks by the blow. However the roll dislodged Bachiko, she started to fall from the back of Garuda, screaming as she did.

"Garuda! Hold Ren in that position! I'm gonna save a stupid princess." Nagato said as he rolled off of Garuda's back. He set himself into a dive, and rapidly caught up to the falling Bachiko. He caught her in his arms and shifted her onto his back. He quickly fired off a series of handsigns, and called another summon, this time a swarm of rainbow butterflies. The large insects fluttered below the two shiobi, making a floating bed for them to land on. As soon as Nagato and Bachiko touched the ground, the butterflies flew off in all directions.

"Oujou-baka… don't you… know better than to fall off… a giant eagle when he's… flying around? Now Garuda's gonna be too worried about us to focus on the fight…" Nagato scolded as he tried to catch his breath.

Bachiko was covering her face with her hands; Nagato could hear her sobbing softly.

"Nagato-san saved me," she said as she looked at him with tear filled eyes. "All I've done so far is cause Nagato-san trouble and still Nagato-san saved me."

"Of course I did, Bachiko-chan." Nagato said with a grin. "I might not help you up when you're on the ground, but I'll always be there to catch you when you fall."

"Nagato-san called me by my name." Bachiko said. Then she started to cry even more.

"Nagato-kohai! What did you say to Oujou-sama?" Garuda said as he soared over and landed next to the pair. "How many times must I tell you to watch your mouth?"

"It's all right, Garuda-dono. Nagato-kun called me by my name!" Bachiko smiled through her tears.

"Nagato-kohai, I'm proud of you. You might just be a decent human being after all." Garuda grinned. "But we've got a problem. I figured out just why IshiOni is running around all over the place. He's trying to draw all the other genin here. We need to leave and try and wear him out from a distance, or we'll get thirty genin all after us at once."

Nagato and Bachiko both climbed onto Garuda's back again. And he took off to the skies, hoping to protect the young genin.

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Kami turned slowly, facing each of her three opponents in turn. Off in the distance, she could hear the battle between the summoned beast Garuda and IshiOni. The air between the four shinobi was tense, and still; it seemed that the whole area might explode at any moment.

Ai leapt forward first, leading with a flying roundhouse kick. Kami rolled underneath the blow and struck upward with her palm, catching Ai under the chin. Kami continued by sweeping her back leg around behind her so that she turned to face Taro, who had pounced forward with arms extended.

Taro grasped Kami by the wrists and forced her down on her back, he put his face right up against hers, growling deep in his throat. Kami bit hard on his nose, and put her legs underneath his stomach, pushing up with al her might. She flipped Taro off of her and onto his back, and then she catapulted herself up into the air, and dropkicked him in the throat. She pivoted around on that foot, grinding his windpipe and launched a roundhouse kick at Ai, who had started another leaping strike. The two kicks crossed at the knee, both negated by the force of each other's blows.

Stepping off of Taro, Kami leapt backwards, creating distance between herself and her foes. Ai reached down and pulled Taro up off the ground, which was still clutching his bleeding nose. She slung one of Taro's arms around her shoulder and turned back to Taizo.

"Taizo-san." Ai said. "I need to take Taro away from here and look at his throat or he may die. How about you do something useful for once and finish off Kami-chan so that I can do my job?"

"Whatever. If you cowards want to run off that's fine with me. I won't have any problems here." Taizo replied haughtily.

Ai and Taro leapt away from the battle and off into the forest. Kami and Taizo turned to face each other, the air between them was electric, and the looks on their faces made it clear that this fight was not going to end well.

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"[Sound Style: Roar of the Gods]!" A wave of sonic energy blasted out of Renji's plate, tearing apart everything in its path. The air filled with dust and wood splinters and the ground shook from the blast. But when the dust settled, and the ground was littered with broken trees, Yukio stood tall in the branches of the only tree to survive the blast.

"How did you survive that?" Renji asked incredulously. "Nobody dodges that big a blast."

"I didn't dodge." Yukio said in a tone as sharp as glass. "I did this!" Yukio through a shuriken at Renji, detonating it inches from his head. But the gout of flame only struck a broken log, Renji reappeared a few yards away.

"So you used an explosion to create a temporary vacuum and block my attack. I never would have thought that you would be able to pull off that kind of timing. This will be fun." Renji smiled.

Yukio threw six more shuriken, and detonated them as they approached Renji. Through the blasts flew what seemed like a hundred senbon needles that glinted with wind chakra. Renji reached into the ground and threw up a wall of stone to hide behind, he crouched behind it with his back to the wall, expecting a millon explosions. He heard the _tink-tink_ of the needles as they bounced off of or stuck in the thick stone wall. But Renji wasn't as lucky as he'd hoped, some of the needles sliced through the wall, one of which struck him in the middle of his back. He cried out in pain.

Renji looked up to see the silhouette of Yukio standing over him, holding a kusarigama and twirling the weighted end of the chain.

"You were expecting gouts of fire," Yukio said in that cold, cold voice. "Or perhaps explosions numbering in the hundreds, or even thousands. But my kekkei genkai is more varied than that. Sometimes, it doesn't explode; sometimes it cuts, deep into the heart of my foes, silencing them with blades of wind, before consuming their bodies with fire." Yukio swung the weighted chain of his kusarigama down at Renji. The chain wrapped itself around his throat and Yukio began to pull on it, hoisting Renji upwards. The needle that had stuck in Renji's back tore at his flesh, still stuck in the wall and trying to free itself. When Renji was hoisted high enough that his feet could only barely touch the ground, Yukio swung the scythe end of his kusarigama, burying the blade in the wall, and holding Renji in place. Yukio leapt down from the top of the wall, and took out a rope. He tied Renji's hands together with rope, and then gagged him with an exploding tag.

"If anyone else tries to remove this tag, it will explode and kill you both. Have fun getting out of this trap." Yukio said as he patted Renji on his cheek. Yukio turned and walked slowly away.

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The din of battle followed Maeko and IshiOni as they rampaged through the forest. Genin followed them through the trees, fighting each other even as they ran to catch the demon that was now holding nearly half the senseis of the genin teams.

IshiOni moved with a bounding, hopping gait, springing from treetop to treetop, as he couldn't use his hands to swing. He made his way towards the bird Garuda and the rest of Team 1. The plan that he and Maeko had come up with was simple, lead as many genin teams to one area as possible, then trap them there. When IshiOni reached the area that had been flattened by Garuda's mighty wings he tossed all the Jonin he was carrying high into the air, and then turned around to face the rushing army of genin who were desperate not to lose. IshiOni slammed his massive fists together and then reached deep into the ground in front of him. With a mighty roar he heaved up a dome of granite, covering the genin and trapping them inside. The jonin senseis had dropped a few yards behind IshiOni, and most of them had managed to land on their feet.

IshiOni turned back to gather up the Jonin once more and saw Nagato standing there with Bachiko and Garuda behind him.

"Bachiko-chan." Nagato said with a commanding tone in his voice. "Go find Renji-kun. Relay the situation to him and bring him back here. It's gonna take all three of us to round up these Jonin once I finish with Ren-kun here."

"But, Nagato-kun, I want to stay. I can help you." Bachiko pleaded.

"Nagato-kohai," Garuda interjected. "Have you mastered that technique your father taught you?"

"Yes, Garuda-sempai." Nagato responded.

"Oujou-sama, there is no need to worry for Nagato. He and I will win for sure." Garuda smiled. "Nagato let's use that technique!"

"Right!" Nagato said, he made a series of forty hand signs, and then both he and Garuda began to glow. The light grew incredibly bright, and Nagato shouted, "[Sealing Jutsu: Summoned Beast Spiritual Overlay]!" The light faded abruptly and both Nagato and Garuda appeared to have vanished. In their place stood a tall man covered in feathers. Lightning crackled from his fingertips, and a pair of huge wings with distinctive metal holes grew from his back. The man looked at Bachiko, his face was Nagato's.

"Bachiko-chan," Said Nagato and Garuda with one voice. "Don't worry about us. Go find Renji-kun. We will defeat this beast." Bachiko nodded and then sprinted away.

The two supernatural beasts squared off, facing each other in the eerily silent field of destruction. Maeko climbed down from IshiOni's back and ran up to the top of the granite dome that was holding all the genin she sat down next to some of the other jonin that had been gathered up. One of them, Saionji Yoshiko, the leader of Team 3 offered Maeko some rations from her pack.

"Might as well sit back for a little, this fight could be epic." Yoshiko commented.

"Yeah," Maeko mused. "All right! Who's taking bets? Momma wants a new katana!"

Some of the other jonin pulled out a few bills, and soon Maeko was managing odds and taking bets.

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Next time on TALES FROM IWAGAKURE Episode 4: The Great Gathering of Genin!

Who will claim victory when every genin and jonin is in the same area?

The first character profile is below:

Ozuru Yukio (male)

**Age**: 15

**Height**: 6'1"

**Weight**: 170 lbs.

**Blood type**: A

**Parents**: Ozuru Kazuya (father), Ozuru Chinatsu (mother)

**Rank**: Genin

**Personality**:

An active and energetic boy with a tendency to goof off when not in combat, Yukio is sometimes a prankster, sometimes a deadly adversary. A notable trait is his lack of modesty when it comes to physical contact. He thinks nothing of a kiss or a hug and is perfectly comfortable being physically close to strangers, because of his mom's tendency to smother everyone in marshmallow hell shortly after meeting them. This earns him a reputation as a sex maniac and a playboy, something he considers a point of pride.

**Appearance:**

Tallest member of the team, with light brown hair and hazel eyes. His hair is worn about neck length and is spiky, but he wears Forehead protector like a bandanna so only the back part of his hair and his bangs stick out. He wears a dark green long sleeve under his fleece lined bomber jacket, and black pants. He has a pair of red tinted goggles hanging around his neck that make chakra sources glow blue when viewed through the lenses. This allows him to target foes even through smoke. The back of his jacket has the Ozuru clan insignia on it (a black and a white feather crossing diagonally on a sky blue background).

**Fighting Style:**

He is a fighter specializing in long range tactics, and uses his ability to control both wind and fire chakra to perform incredible stunts of maneuverability, even for a ninja. He likes to lead his opponents around by the nose, always staying just out of reach. His taijutsu is sub-par, but he is more than capable of taking a few hits. He dislikes the use of genjutsu, but he is proficient in it simply because it makes it easier to create distance between himself and his opponents. His teammates often claim that he has a split personality, switching between "hot" and "cold" Yukio as soon as danger presents itself. His motto is "The best way to fight is to take out your opponent before they even know you're there."

**Ozuru clan**:

The owners of a mine that contains the ore used to make special chakra absorbing metals; they are a very wealthy ninja clan in the land of earth. Their kekkei genkai is rare amongst clan members because they frequently marry outside the clan in order to assimilate other unique ninja abilities into their clan. In fact this is similar to the clan motto "It takes many feathers to grow mighty wings". Following this philosophy the current clan leader, Ozuru Kazuya has implemented a sort of eugenics policy, where he must approve any marriage request involving a clan member to determine the worthiness of the pair and how they can benefit his clan. He also brokered many deals with other clans to share their secrets in exchange for the power and influence his clan can offer.


	4. Chapter 4

I apologize profusely for abandoning this story for months and months… and months. But I've managed to make time for it once more and I hope to continue writing it for as long as I can. Hopefully there are still some of you out there who want to read it, if not, then I'll just post these so I can read them.

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NARUTO: TALES FROM IWAGAKURE

EPISODE 4: THE GREAT GATHERING OF GENIN!

Bachiko bounded through the trees as quickly as she could, she could sense Renji's chakra, but it was beginning to fade fast, he was definitely in trouble. She doubled her pace leaping through the trees frantically; her teammate's life might hang in the balance. She doubted that Yukio could defeat Renji in a one on one fight, after all Renji held a nearly undefeated record at the ninja academy, but she couldn't rule out the possibility of outside interference.

In her rapid pace to reach her teammate she didn't notice that she was being followed, until she heard the sound of something flying quickly behind her. She turned to see an arrow speeding behind her, she ducked just in time, and the bolt flew past her. She looked around quickly, trying to find where it came from, when she heard another arrow flying towards her again, this time from the other direction. She turned to face the arrow and swung the sleeve of her kimono, and caught the arrow in the tightly woven fabric. She pulled the arrow out and looked at it, instead of a standard head, the arrow had what looked like a mouth, and there were definitely teeth inside that mouth. Suddenly the shaft bent, and the mouth bit Bachiko's hand. She screamed in pain as the arrow began to burrow into her skin, and she grabbed the shaft and snapped it in half. The biting pain stopped as the arrowhead fell out of Bachiko's wound.

"Those are my special chakra seeking arrows." A cold female voice said. "I don't think you've had to face them before, Bachiko-sama."

Bachiko looked around for the source of the voice. "Would this be the work of Aida Tsuhgi-san? Who was known in our class for the bow she carries?"

"How perceptive of you Oujo-sama." The voice responded sarcastically. "I've been watching for a time, and I think that you will make some excellent prey." The girl Tsuhgi appeared, standing below Bachiko, her bow already knocked with another arrow. She wore her dark brown hair in a hime cut, and her outfit consisted of a dark green jumpsuit underneath a padded leather brigandine. Her pale eyes were without pupils, but the center of her great bow had a single, massive eye that appeared to move on its own.

"Bachiko-sama. We were friends at the academy, which is the only reason I have appeared to you now. I was asked to hunt down any genin who were not lured to the center of the forest and caught in the dome. Since you have escaped this fate, I will hunt you down and defeat you. In honor of our friendship though, I will give you a head start, please take it." The cold voiced huntress said.

Bachiko nodded her thanks, and bounded off as quickly as she could. She wondered how long it would be before Tsuhgi started up the chase again, her only hope was that she had enough time to reach Renji, otherwise there was no way that she would be able to return in time to help Nagato.

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IshiOni and Nagato traded fierce blows in the devastated area around the great stone dome that held the genin. IshiOni's fists struck with ferocity that sent Nagato's fused body flying with each strike and Nagato's lightning enhanced blows stunned IshiOni with each contact. The fight was furious, and full of energy. When attacks connected visible shockwaves rippled out. The jonin senseis who were watching would cheer and shout with each blow, convinced that each powerful strike would be the final blow.

Nagato's fusion with Garuda was faster and more maneuverable, but IshiOni could take damage and dish it out twice as hard. The two genin's senseis were sitting next to each other. Sato Akihiko held his head in his hands, refusing to look at the commotion his student Nagato was causing. Suzu Maeko, on the other hand was cheering and whooping loudly, taking bets from the other jonin senseis.

Nagato finally managed to break free of the close range fight between himself and IshiOni. He climbed rapidly into the air, charging his entire body with lightning chakra. IshiOni kept a bead on Nagato, and when he reached the apex of his climb, IshiOni fired a glob of wet cement from his mouth. Nagato rolled to try and dodge the blow, but the glob of cement stuck to the tip of his wing and hardened instantly. The weight caused Nagato to crash to the ground, unable to move from the spot where he landed.

IshiOni leapt forward with a roar, and those jonin who had placed their money on the demon cheered. As IshiOni closed the distance between the two, preparing to strike the final blow, his body began to melt away. The stone like exterior faded and Ren, the original owner of the body, was left in the same position, leaping forward, hands outstretched.

As Ren's much smaller form launched towards Nagato's Garuda body, Nagato grabbed his cement laden wing, and swung it at Ren, striking him with the concrete and shattering it. A different group of jonin cheered this time, as Nagato rose slowly into the air.

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Kami's fight with Taizo wasn't going well. Every blow she struck was met with a counter, every time she avoided a blow he shot a stalagmite to strike her.

"You're at a disadvantage here." Taizo said. "I was watching your fighting style earlier. You fight best against groups. You're strong and aggressive, but against just one opponent, you can't do maximum damage. On the other hand, even though I was taught to take on groups, I know more than enough tricks to take you one on one."

He launched another kick at Kami, following behind it was a spike of stone, Kami caught his leg in both her hands, and the spike of stone continued forward, piercing Taizo's leg.

"Of course you know all about my fighting style," Kami grinned as the spike stuck into Taizo's calf. "But I know yours too. The thing about my fighting style is though, all that matters is how much damage I can do to a body. When the fight's over no one should even be able to tell who you are any more and I'm gonna leave you here, stuck on your own spike, and I'm gonna watch you bleed to death." Kami stepped back and turned to leave the field of battle. She walked about a hundred feet when she heard the sound of footsteps chasing her.

Kami spun around quickly, but Taizo was already upon her. He struck her hard with a stone encased fist, the blow sent Kami flying and knocked the wind out of her. Taizo closed the distance in an instant, he grinned as he stood over Kami. Raising his fist once more, he prepared another blow.

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Renji slowly worked at the ropes binding his hands with the trench knife attached to his belt. He could feel the bindings loosen as he sawed at them, but he was afraid that if he had to wait much longer he'd pass out from the chain wrapped around his neck. He thought about his fight with Yukio, and how strange it was. Yukio had been a goofball in the academy, although no one doubted his talent. But the Yukio that had fought with Renji on this day was completely different. The absolute seriousness, the cold edge to his voice, and the ruthless tactics were something that Renji had never seen from Yukio before.

As soon as the rope binding his hands was cut Renji unwrapped the chain around his neck, he reached for the explosive tag that covered his mouth, but stopped, remembering Yukio's warning. He couldn't be sure if he'd be able to remove it; if he was wrong it could cost him his life. Renji rubbed his ankles and wrists to restart the circulation, and walked off in the direction of the fight between Ren and Nagato, following the sounds of the battle.

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Yukio was sitting by himself in a tree, trying to figure out just what had happened. The fight had been too easy, from what he could remember. Renji was a tough opponent, and Yukio had never beaten him in any of their sparring matches, but this fight had been short and he actually won! Yukio never doubted that when push came to shove he could handle any opponent, his father and mother had often talked about how they felt like completely different people on mission, and Yukio had expected the same to happen to him. Yukio pulled out one of his scrolls and summoned more shuriken and kunai since he was running low. He was upset over the destruction of his wings, but there was no way that he'd be able to fix them in the middle of a mission like this. He was just about to go look and see whether or not there were any Jonin around when he heard a scream off in the distance. Not knowing just what it was, he headed off to investigate.

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Montaro Ren (male)

**Age**: 16

**Height**: 153 cm

**Weight**: 54 kilos

**Blood Type**: O

**Parents**: Montaro Mikami (father), unknown mother

**Rank**: Genin

**Personality**:

An extremely optimistic boy, Ren frequently voices encouragement for his teammates no matter the situation they're in. He believes that his team is by far the best of the rookie teams in Iwagakure, and often challenges other teams to idiotic competitions to prove their superiority. He is the medical ninja of his team, something his father is disappointed by, even though his son is extremely talented. He rarely shows any emotion other than extreme optimism, but if anyone insults his sensei, he quickly becomes violently destructive and there is literally nothing that can stop him until he calms down. He uses earth style jutsu, but instead of using dirt, he prefers to use stone based jutsu.

He carries a bag full of medical equipment, and wears special bandages on his arms that are coated in various antidotes. He has a scroll that he can use to summon various feasts and temporary lodgings for his team, allowing them to serve as a long distance recon and espionage team.

**Appearance:**

Much smaller than any of the other team members, has short, spiky grey hair and grey eyes. Wears a ninja vest over top of a bright red t shirt with brown cargo pants (reference to the joke about the pirate captain).

**Ogre Bonding**:

Every member of the Montaro family is bonded with an Oni at birth. The two are fused together into one being, and when the child becomes emotionally upset they transform into the Oni. Because of this, children are taught at a young age to control their emotions. The Montaro family is limited to five members at a time, because that is how many Oni have agreed to the pact. They are each tied to a different elemental chakra and have a color similar to their element. (Red=fire, blue =water, grey=earth, green=wind, yellow=lightning). The oni are synchronized with the castle and each other, so that they can communicate when in danger.


End file.
